


Maybe Brokenly

by Aurumite



Series: Tumblr Prompts [6]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Porn With Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:01:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1743983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurumite/pseuds/Aurumite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The party drew on and got louder, but Cordelia couldn’t join them. Not with her husband on his deathbed and the guilt in her heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe Brokenly

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Circumstances](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1135299) by [Aurumite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurumite/pseuds/Aurumite). 



> For a Tumblr prompter requesting the relief!sex alluded to after the final battle in "Circumstances." How could anyone say no to such a detail-oriented reader, goodness gracious :P. 
> 
> I wasn't sure how to connect this drabble to "Circumstances" other than marking it as a remix/piece inspired by it (although it's not, because I wrote both), so if anyone knows a better way, please let me know!

Grima was defeated and the army was already celebrating, but Cordelia was pacing in her tent alone. She tried to center her mind, to block the noise of the laughter and clinking drinks outside, but despite how easily that had always come to her, she could not seem to manage it this time.

Frederick had been in terrible shape by the end of that final battle, hardly breathing, and it was all she could do to leave him with Lissa and get out of the healer's way. She was not accustomed to being so _useless_.  

The party drew on and got louder, but she couldn’t join them. Not with her husband on his deathbed and the guilt in her heart. Gods, he wasn’t Chrom, and he would never be, but had she not done enough to remind him of that? He was still the person sworn to her side forever, even if the passion she felt for him was not nearly the same. He would have lain beside her chastely on their own wedding night and every night after if she hadn't suggested otherwise, he thanked her for her friendship at every turn, he doted on their future child like he'd already sired her, and he was going to die believing that the woman he loved felt absolutely nothing for him, even after all their months together. 

But she _did_ love Frederick—maybe brokenly, and certainly not like he deserved, but as much as she was able to. He couldn’t die before he knew that. Could she live with herself, if that came to pass? 

The sound of the tent flaps closing stopped her in her tracks, and she almost whimpered when she turned and saw him standing there. She had only a moment to take in how pale he was before she hugged him as tightly as she dared.

"How are you?" 

"Quite alive, milady." He seemed to be in good spirits. "I wear more bandages now than I have in all my years put together, and Lady Lissa told me to rest as much as possible, but I shall recover." 

"Gods, I was so frightened. For a moment I was forced to confront what it would be like to live without you, and I—" She hadn't wanted that life at all. She had wanted it to end right there. His face softened as he pulled back. 

"Forgive me for worrying you," he said. 

"Frederick, I—"

 _I do love you, in my way. I do_. The words caught in her throat. She knew she had to say them, and she desperately wanted to, especially with the look he was giving her. But what if she was fickle? Her love was already slipping from Chrom. What if one day it slipped back? Or off of Frederick and onto another man entirely? She couldn’t hurt him like that. She couldn’t tell him unless she was sure it would never change. 

"Frederick, don’t leave my side tonight. Please." 

There were other ways to make him understand. She kissed his face gently, but fear and relief were already surging through her veins; she moved quickly to his mouth and jaw and neck and then started pulling off his tie so she’d have more skin to pay attention to. His breath caught. 

"Cordelia, I fear—oh." He paused as she sucked where his neck met his shoulder, while his fingers dug into her hips. The gesture was reassuring and only made her suck harder. He'd have a mark tomorrow. "I would love to reassure you in this way, but—" She got his shirt open and trailed her fingers down his chest. "B-but I fear I am in no condition to reciprocate." 

"I don’t want you to. Just enjoy it. Just let me show you—" 

Her hand slipped beneath his waistband and Sir Frederick, Knight-Commander, surrendered with a gasp.

The rest was a blur. Pushing him to the ground, too impatient to undress them both, hiking up her skirt, brushing his hand away when he reached up to pleasure her first. He whispered a protest that she silenced with a kiss. This wasn’t about her. There was still so much to savour as she rode herself breathless in his lap, the quick rhythm of his breathing, the way he filled her.  

It was over quickly between his exhaustion and her frantic pace, but she didn’t mind. There was such familiarity in how it ended. How he said her name when he came, how he tenderly stroked her hair when she curled up against his side, the satisfied sigh he gave. Everything was just the way it used to be. It brought tears to her eyes. She kept her face pressed against his neck so he wouldn’t see and traced the warm slivers of skin she could find between his bandages with her fingertips.

"I’ll finish you," he said when he caught his breath, but she shook her head. 

"You just relax. I’m surprised you haven’t opened any of your wounds." 

"I might have." He shut his eyes and made that same deep sigh again. "At this very moment, I can not bring myself to care." 

"Men," she muttered. A long moment passed while their heartbeats slowed.

"I’m so pleased to have lived," he murmured drowsily. "Now I can spend the rest of our lives making you happy, just as I promised." 

She almost teared up again. 

"I love you, Cordelia." 

She couldn’t help herself. 

"I love you, too," she whispered, but his chest rose upward in the first calm, deep breath of sleep.

By morning, she had regained her senses. 


End file.
